After the Battle was Won
by rlpj4
Summary: After the final battle, Harry is left alone while everyone else celebrates. To celebrate his birthday and the victory, he goes to a bar and finds a friend and fellow warrior, Nymphadora Tonks. HPNT


AN: This story was inspired by several fan fiction stories and the original books by JK Rowling

The man walked into the noisy bar. He was downcast, as he didn't know what had happened this evening. After one of the best days of his life, he had one of the worst as well. Today was the day that Harry James Potter, 18, had defeated the dark sorcerer known as Lord Voldemort.

He had defeated him on the field of battle just after midnight in a pitched battle near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Unspeakable had been given the Order of Merlin 1st class for the third time in his life, with all three for fighting against Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Now that the war was finally over, Harry had thought he would go back and see his girlfriend. But he found the sixteen year old girl in the arms and bed of Dean Thomas, an ex-best friend. And to find out even more, Harry, who had forgone his final year of Hogwarts to train and fight, found she was pregnant with Dean's child.

Harry had told his ex-girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, that he wasn't going to talk to her ever again, and then he left the Burrow, after letting her mother know what was going on. Harry didn't care about that. He went to Diagon Alley with his close friends Ronald and Hermione Weasley, who had married just after Hogwarts had let out. They then left him on his own in Diagon Alley to go to a party they had been invited to.

Harry hadn't been really noticed by people, and it was frustrating to him. Everyone was too into partying to celebrate Voldemort's demise than to wish Harry a Happy Birthday.

This day was his eighteenth birthday, and he was celebrating it alone at nine o'clock in the evening, entering a local Muggle bar.

When he got to the bar, the bartender walked over.

"What will you have?"

"I'll have a cider," Harry said.

"I need to see your ID, sir."

Harry showed the man his ID, and then put the glass full of cider down. As Harry sipped on the cider, he looked around. He just wanted someone to wish him a happy birthday. As he looked around, he saw a drunk woman he recognized. She was talking with a man, and he walked over to talk to her.

"Hi Dora," He said.

"Harry? What are you doing here? I thought you would be celebrating."

"Well, I would, if I had any friends to celebrate with."

"What do you mean?"

Harry went into the story of the day, and the woman, Nymphadora Tonks, his partner in the Unspeakable Warrior Mage Corps, listened. At the end, she spoke.

"Some friends they are. Don't even wish you a happy birthday. Happy birthday, Harry."

"Thanks, Dora," Harry said. "Where's Remus?"

"Who cares where he is," she replied. "I broke up with him today because I caught him in the bed with some witch."

"Damn," Harry said. "We're both having a bad day after it started out good."

"Yes, I know, Harry," she said. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's get out of here," Harry said, seeing Tonks getting quite a few looks from women.

"I'm game," she said. "Let me pay my tab."

Harry walked up to the bartender and paid for his drink and for Dora's drinks. He saw the look she gave him and smirked.

"Don't worry. I just want to make it easy for you."

She nodded and took him by the arm, following him out of the bar.

"Where to now," she asked.

"I don't know. I just want to get away from everyone."

"Did you try Headquarters?"

Harry nodded.

"No one was there. They were all out partying. Every time I came across someone, they seemed to ignore me."

"They shouldn't do that to you," Tonks said, in her drunken state.

"How many drinks did you have?"

"Three or four shots of whiskey," she said, grinning at him.

"Let's get you to bed, Dora," Harry said.

"Ok," She said, grabbing hold to him when they got to an alley.

Harry apparated them both to her apartment, which was in Muggle London. He'd been there several times to spend the night to get away from some people, and to get ready for late nights. He and Tonks were so close that they didn't mind sharing a bed in their underwear.

It wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other before anyway. Harry's Metamorphmagus training had been given by Tonks during the time they had off from their Unspeakable training, which had taken most of the previous year, even using a time-turner to train at times.

Harry had been ranked as one of the higher powered mages in the employ of the Unspeakables, and he had led the fight against Voldemort. He had been highly trained and had taken to the training with ease, easily becoming one of the best wizards working in the department. He liked that, but he felt that he needed time to relax.

Dora looked at Harry and smiled at him.

"Harry, I want to get laid."

"Dora, are you sure? You'll remain in any form you are in."

"I don't care, Harry. I want to be yours tonight."

"Can you wait until you're sober?"

Tonks looked at him and didn't know what to do. In a way, this was her dream come true to have a man to want to make sure she wanted this. Others would just fuck and run, something she would hate, as she would remain in the form for the rest of her life if she wasn't in her base form.

"Tonks, go to sleep."

Harry helped her into her bed. When she was resting comfortably, he apparated to his private house, one where no one but Tonks had ever visited. It was a place he'd purchased after he got into his full inheritance, after he decided to not live in the house in Godric's Hollow where his parents were killed.

As he packed his bags, he decided that he would go and get Dora, as she liked him to call her, in the morning. He would invite her on his trip to France to spend some time at the property he'd inherited from Dumbledore. Of course, he would also go and visit the rest of the property he had inherited from his godfather Sirius, Dumbledore, and his parents. The only place in England that they owned was Number 12 Grimmauld Place, a place Harry didn't want to go because every Order member knew where it was and considered it to be their headquarters.

When he was finished packing his clothes, he decided to write letters to his friends, and a letter asking to be placed on inactive duty as an Unspeakable. He would return when he felt he wanted to work. It wasn't as if he needed to work, as he had a fortune of over thirty million galleons. That was enough for him to live very comfortably for the rest of his life.

But he hadn't touched the inheritance, thanks to the trust fund and his own earnings as an Unspeakable. He'd made, on average, two thousand galleons a month as an Unspeakable, as he was eligible to receive bounties placed on Death Eaters. And, now, he got the five hundred thousand galleon bounty for Voldemort into his personal vault. That in itself was enough for him to live for at least twenty years without the other money in the account. More likely, he could live off of ten thousand galleons a year as a single man. And that would allow him to live in relative comfort and not want for anything. And if he had a job, he would never need to access the main part of his inheritance as long as he spent his money wisely.

The next morning, Tonks awoke and looked around the room. She vaguely remembered Harry being there, and frowned. She'd been willing to become his, as she knew that once a Metamorphmagus had sex, they were bound for life to that person. She wanted to wait until she'd found the right person, but her anger at her ex-boyfriend, and some of the people who Harry had called friends, made her want to be there for him.

She got up and got into the shower in her apartment, dressing in a pink tank top, and a pink pair of panties. She decided not to dress in anything else until she saw a note from Harry there.

_Dora,_

_I'm coming by later this morning after I drop some stuff off. I dropped off breakfast for you, and I want to go to France and then on to visit the remainder of my properties in Europe and the Americas. I invite you to come, and I am going to request inactive duty until I feel like returning to work. Don't think you have to come, but I am offering to pay your way on the trip to visit my properties and see what I have._

_Harry_

_I'll be damned_, Tonks said to herself. _He wants me to go with him._

Immediately, Tonks started to write a letter to her bosses. She wrote a letter telling them that she wanted to be put on inactive duty for the time being, and, if they wouldn't do that, consider her to be resigning from the Ministry for personal reasons.

When Harry arrived, Tonks was busy packing her trunk full of her clothes, taking care to put in a lot of different kind of clothes, including Muggle clothes and clothes for cold climates.

She was bent over as Harry came through the Floo Network, and bowled right into her.

Opening his eyes, Harry found himself lying on the ground with a half-naked Tonks lying on top of him, her lips close to his.

"If you wanted to kiss, why didn't you say so," Dora said, cheekily.

Harry didn't blush, he pressed his lips to hers, feeling lonely after having a long night alone. He should have been celebrating with his friends, but he didn't know why they had left him by the wayside.

Dora was surprised when Harry pressed his lips to hers, and then forced his tongue into her mouth. She was giddy, though, as she felt something that she could only say was magic going through her body coming from Harry.

"Wow," Harry said, when he caught his breath.

"Wow is right," Tonks said, smiling. "Now, about the sex I offered."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Harry. I want to make love to you. If we're to travel together, we have to be comfortable with each other."

Harry nodded before speaking.

"If you want to make love to me, do it in your base form."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Dora."

The woman, who had pink hair at the moment, wrinkled her nose and her body changed. She now had a dark color hair, and dark colored eyes. Her body was just about the same, with her breasts just a little fuller, and her body a little fuller over all.

Harry examined her and smiled. He couldn't get enough of Tonks when she was in this form. She could change into being an extremely gorgeous woman, but he knew her base form was very good looking. She thought herself overweight in this form, but Harry thought she looked homely and inviting to him, not overweight.

"Dora, I don't know why you don't stay in this form."

"I don't like it as much."

"You look beautiful," Harry said. "Now, what do you want to do."

"You've offered to make love to me," she said, grinning.

"Can we at least move to the bed?"

"Yes," Dora said, smiling.

She helped Harry up, and then they quickly stripped of their clothes, leaving each other naked and standing. Harry reached out and caressed her face, and she smiled at him.

"You want to touch my face when my tits are showing."

"I'll touch them too."

Harry reached down and brushed her nipples. Then he reached down between her legs to brush the lips of her pussy. She moaned when he did that, pressing his lips to hers. A moment later, Harry found himself on his back, with the woman, who was twenty five years old, on top of him, in the '69' position.

Harry didn't mind this, as he had done it several times with Ginny when they were dating. Now, he was doing it with the woman who was giving herself to him.

After both orgasmed at the same time, the woman turned around and lay on her back.

"Let's do this right," she said, with a smile on her face.

"Are you using a spell?"

"I don't need to for my first time," she said. "The magic of the bonding won't allow me to have a child."

"What is the nature of the bonding?"

"It bonds me to you as a consort. And if you want, we can marry."

"Let's elope," Harry suggested.

"Really," Tonks asked, her voice showing her excitement at the thought.

"Yes," Harry said. "We'll get married in France and then travel the world while everyone here parties and such."

"Will they miss us?"

"Well, maybe. But I wrote my friends and the Order a letter. They'll get it tonight, after we leave."

"Where are you sending it?"

"I'll send Hedwig before we leave here. She's here right now."

"What kind of message did you send the Order?"

"I gave them a projection letter."

"I'll do that too. So, want to wait for the sex?"

"Let's wait until we marry," Harry said. "That way we can do it properly."

"Ok. As long as we get married soon."

"I promise, Dora, that we will be married soon. I also got this."

He handed her the engagement ring, and Tonks smiled.

"You thought about this?"

"Well, I knew you were a good person, but I wanted to wait a while."

"I see no reason to wait. We're good together, and there's nothing else we can do to learn the other. Even when I was making out with Remus, I found my heart was yours."

"I felt the same way, but I was dating Ginny."

"Well, at least we know what that happens. Does Molly know Ginny is pregnant?"

"No. She knows that Dean and Ginny were in Ginny's bed at the Burrow when I went to see Ginny and ask her to join me to visit my properties for the rest of the summer. Now, I won't worry with her anymore. I will mention the reasons we're leaving them behind for now. And one of them will be that Ginny is pregnant."

"You're going to get her in trouble."

"I know, Dora," Harry said, as Dora stood up. "That's the point. Don't you think she deserves everything she gets for what she did to me?"

Within a half an hour, they were dressed, and Dora started to make her letter for the Order and their friends, who would be together when they read the messages.

"I timed them so that mine will go off at eight, and yours will start when I finish mine," Harry said. "They're in the same letter."

"Good," Tonks said. "Let's send them with the message that they won't start until eight this evening and only if everyone we list is there."

"The Weasleys, Hermione, and the Order will be sufficient. Kingsley will know that I'm on inactive duty."

"And he'll get my letter soon too."

"Send it later with Hedwig. She can drop off the message to the Order first, and then take the message to the Ministry for you."

"Let's do it that way. And let's get out of here."

"Hedwig," Harry said. "Take this to the Order. Then go directly to the Ministry and don't wait for a reply at either place. Then you can come to find us at your pleasure later. We won't be here."

Hedwig hooted and she flew off when Harry tied the messages to her leg.

"Now, let me finish packing my apartment."

Harry nodded.

"Where can I help?"

By lunch, they had packed everything up, shrinking it to place in a small bag. Harry sent it to his place, and then Tonks went to pay the last month's rent, and say she was ending the lease, having found another place.

"What about your house?"

"I own it out right," Harry said. "Dobby and Winky will take care of it for me."

"Ok," Dora said. "How are we going to announce our wedding?"

"We can do that by sending a letter to the Daily Prophet with a photo," Harry said, smiling. "But to keep it a secret, let's marry in the Muggle World first. It will be legal."

"Ok," Dora said. "And we can initiate the soul bond ourselves after the wedding."

Harry nodded.

"Yes we can."

"Let's get out of here," she said.

Harry took her by the arm and then apparated to France, arriving in Paris so they could check in with the French Ministry, passing customs. Both had Muggle and Magical passports, which made this process much easier for them.

Besides, Harry owned property in France, and, thus, was a citizen of France if he decided to be.

When they were done with that, they decided to get a Muggle hotel room to stay in Paris for a while. During their first hours in Paris, the couple found a way to get married, and then arranged to get married in front of the Eiffel Tower the next morning, during the early dawn hours while the tower was still lit and the photographs would come out great.

In London, Hermione was fretting. She got the message that was sent to the Order and had read it. She then contacted everyone listed and they all wondered what it was all about.

"Has anyone seen Harry," Ron asked.

"No," Hermione said. "No one has seen him since we left him in Diagon Alley. I thought he was following us."

"Mione," Ron said. "I thought you were going to get him, so I went on with Neville."

"So," Neville said, looking at Ron. "Do you know what this is about?"

"No," Kingsley said. "Tonks has left her apartment, and Harry isn't answering any messages we send to him."

"I hope he's ok," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Me too," Remus said. "And Tonks too."

"You know, I broke up with Harry," Ginny said.

"Why?"

"Dean is the one I want to marry, Mum," Ginny said. "While Harry was off fighting, I was dating Dean."

"Behind Harry's back," Hermione spat at Ginny. "That's disgusting. No wonder he didn't want to come here."

"Dora has gone on inactive duty at the Ministry," Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic, said. "I got the message today, and Harry has gone on inactive duty too. Both wanted to have time to come to terms with what happened recently."

"Well, Harry deserves it," Remus said.

"So does Tonks," Amelia said.

"It's eight," Hermione said, and the first message started.

"Greetings," the hologram Harry said. "I hope everyone is here. I wanted to tell you all something. If you want to know, I am leaving England for a while. I don't know when I'll be back, but I am going to visit all of my properties around the world. I also want to start my research project. I would have invited Hermione and Ron, but they ditched me in Diagon Alley yesterday. As for Ginny, I hope everyone knows that I broke up with that slut. She was sleeping with Dean behind my back. Ginny, I hope you and the baby are well."

"What Baby," Molly asked.

Ginny turned red.

"Mine and Dean's baby," Ginny said.

The hologram Harry paused a few more minutes.,

"By now, Molly, you know why I broke up with Ginny. It's nothing against you, but I do not wish to see Ginny ever again. She broke my heart and I hope you and Arthur and the boys do well. I'm glad all of you made it through the war alive.

"Amelia, I hope you know why I wanted to get out of here. I didn't like the press, and, yesterday, which happened to be my eighteenth birthday, not one individual wished me a happy birthday. I hate to say this, but as of this moment, I do not have any friends. I'm glad everyone is happy that I killed Voldemort, but no one wanted to ask me to any parties or anything like that. At least none of the people I had once considered friends. This is another reason I am leaving town. I have a friend I have asked to come with me, and I'm sure she'll do it.

"Remus, I am really upset with you too. You know what I'm talking about. Dora told me all about it last night, and I don't know when I will speak to you again. Hurting my partner is like hurting me. I do not like it. I'll leave you to explain what I'm talking about.

"As for everyone else, I want you to enjoy your lives. I will be in contact with some people later, when I've had time to come to terms with what happened in my life. I think I just need to get away from anything. Don't worry about me. I will send a postcard to Professor McGonagall for everyone. That will be my way of remaining in contact with you.

"I have to go now, so I hope you all have a good life if I don't see you again."

"He can't do that!" Hermione said, on the verge of sobbing. "And Ginny, you hussy!"

"Wotcher," the hologram of Dora said. "I hope you just got through with Harry's message, and, to tell you the truth, I'm pissed at Ginny and everyone else for leaving Harry alone yesterday. On his birthday of all days. I happened to find him, or did he find me, in a bar in Muggle London.

"I have agreed to go with him on his trip, and we will be in contact with everyone but Ginny and Remus. I don't think we can be in contact with those cheating bastards.

"Anyway, this is it for now. Peace."

At the end of that one, the room was in turmoil, as Molly was shouting at both Ginny and Remus. Hermione was sobbing, and Ron was torn with what to do. He supported Ginny dating Dean, but hadn't known that she hadn't broken it off with Harry. And that had made the whole thing wrong.

Minerva McGonagall, the Headmistress of Hogwarts, was saddened that Harry and Dora were forced to go to another place to get away from things for a while. She was even angrier that she didn't find time to speak to Harry the previous day. She'd assumed that he would have plenty of well wishers, including those who knew it was his birthday. But now, she wished she had spoken to him earlier, instead of sending an owl.

But she didn't know that he'd received the owl and had replied back to her with a personal letter. That would be at Hogwarts when she got back there.

"Should we go after them," Kingsley asked.

"No," McGonagall said. "They're right. They need their time alone to relax and get away from things here. They can take care of themselves."

"True," Moody said. "They were the best Warrior Mages the Ministry has ever hired. They could get into places most couldn't."

"Harry's power and Tonks' experience," Hermione said. "And what project is he talking about?"

"I don't know," Remus said.

"I know," Neville Longbottom said. "Harry wants to go and study magic of the world. He also wants to complete his certification in Alchemy after he studied with Nicolas Flamel. I guess he wants to work on some potions as well."

The people there that night were frustrated and angry with themselves and each other.

The next morning, in France, Harry and Dora were married in a ceremony performed by a French Ministry official. They had decided to get a Ministry of Magic official, who had sworn himself to secrecy until Harry and Dora wanted to release the message of their marriage. A wizarding photographer had given them the roll of film from the wedding, and they had it developed in one of the one-hour photo developing firms in Wizarding Paris.

The witch there had been happy to let them do it there, and she was easily asked to keep the photographs secret after they got triplicate for their friends and the Daily Prophet. Harry had given her a few extra galleons to hurry the order and forget they were there.

After the pictures were developed, they sat down to write the letter about their wedding, and gave the details. Harry included a set of the photographs in the envelope, and then sent it to Luna Lovegood, who was now a reporter at the Daily Prophet, having been hired on after Harry had given her several exclusive interviews during the war about his efforts to fight Voldemort. He had even written a letter to her describing the details of the battle from his perspective, which would be put in the envelope as well.

They were sealed so that only Luna could open them, and he put his pen name on there, the one that he used when he wanted to remain anonymous when sending mail to people. Luna was one of the few people who knew the person the name referred to.

"Let's get them off," Nymphadora Potter said. "And I can't wait until we get the reactions of everyone."

"Me neither," Harry said, chuckling. "Now this will get us a lot of grief."

"And they will think that we were seeing each other."

"We know that we did nothing like that. We were all business."

"Yes we were," Dora said. "Let's send the other message to our friends."

Harry nodded and smiled.

He put in a couple of photographs that he'd saved from the roll that he sent to Luna. He placed these in the envelope to the Letter for the Order.

_Dear Order and friends,_

_We are here in Paris, and we have a big announcement. Harry and I were married this morning in front of the Eiffel Tower after we decided to elope yesterday. I'm not pregnant, and we just wish to spend our honeymoon going around the world. The rest of the wedding photographs should be in the Daily Prophet soon, as we sent them to Luna with instructions to copy them and send a set to several people. Don't worry, we paid for her to copy them._

_If you wish to ask about the wedding, talk to Fleur Delacour or Gabrielle Delacour. They were there, and Fleur officiated at our request._

_The Mrs. Harry James Potter,_

_Nymphadora Tonks-Potter. _

_PS. Everyone still can call me Tonks. _

_Hi Everyone. It's Harry. Everything my dearest Dora said is true. Hope you enjoy it. Harry._

Harry smiled at the message, and Dora sealed it before placing it on the counter to be sent to Professor McGonagall. They included another letter for her, explaining everything, just in case people had questions about it.

Then the letters were sent, one to Luna, and one to McGonagall.

The storm would hit in a day or so in England, and the world. But by then, Harry and Tonks would be in Nice, on the Mediterranean Coast with Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour, who had been there for the wedding, as Fleur had been the Ministry official officiating and Gabrielle had been the photographer.

That evening, they consummated their marriage in their base forms so they could still change their forms to hide their identities.

The next morning, McGonagall got the owl from France, and opened the letter. She gasped when she saw what was in there and written.

"What's wrong, Minerva," Filius Flitwick said.

"Harry and Tonks married yesterday in France," She said.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess they decided to leave. And I do know they probably felt it was best just to do it instead of let people ask questions."

"And this way, no one can spill the beans on their wedding before they do."

"Yes," Minerva said. "I guess I need to let Amelia know. I'll be back."

When the word got to Hermione and Ron, they were surprised. Everyone was surprised, and Molly Weasley was ranting about the age difference to anyone who listened. Ginny and Remus found out from Ron, and the two of them shook their heads at what they'd ended up making Tonks and Harry do. Ginny and Dean had scheduled a wedding date after Mr. and Mrs. Weasley forced it on them. Dean hadn't wanted to marry Ginny, so he had tried to leave, only to be found leaving by one of the Twins, who were angry at Dean.

The Twins were also angry at their sister for doing that to Harry, but they made some comments about Harry and Tonks marrying. "That's our Harry," one of them had said when they read the message. "Always going for older, sexy women."

"Why did they marry," Bill asked Fleur, who had come to England on a day off.

"They said they were in love and just realized their hearts were longing for the other. Then they decided to marry. Being partners, they got to know each other well during the war and had actually posed as a married couple during some of their missions. I don't think they cheated on you guys, and they just wanted to marry."

"What of their soul bond," Molly asked.

"They had a good one," Fleur said. "It was true love," she said, sighing. "A bright white light, indicating a true soul bond between soul mates. When I saw it, I had no reservations of their marriage, no matter how they wanted to do it."

"What about the photographs?"

"They paid Gabrielle to take the photos," Fleur said. "She happily did it, and she makes money that way for wizarding couples visiting France to marry in front of the Eiffel Tower or other landmarks."

"And where were they going?"

"They wouldn't say. All I know it is somewhere in France that has a Fidelius Charm on it."

"That could be any of three properties Harry owns," Remus said.

"Don't go after them," Fleur said. "They want to be left alone, so Gabrielle and I promised not to reveal it before they did. They planned on sending photographs and a letter to the Daily Prophet to let the Wizarding World know."

"Uh oh," Hermione said. "They'll get a lot of letters."

"Actually, they set up an answering service for all of the mail. Only the most important will be forwarded to them."

"Who did they hire for it?"

"Dobby the house-elf," Fleur said. "They said Dobby would read the mail and make sure that the letters were safe for them to read and then he would send only the ones they specified to be forwarded."

Ten years later, Harry and Dora walked into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley. This was their first time in London since they left, and they were now ready to face the crowd again. Upon entering, their five year old red-headed daughter looked around, her eyes wide. She was going to start magical school in America, where she could start at the age of five.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Can I speak to Misters Weasley?"

"May I tell them who's here? They asked not to be disturbed," the young woman said.

"Of course. Tell them it's their first and biggest investor."

The girl looked confused.

"They'll know," Dora said, with a smile.

A moment later, the door opened and the girl spoke.

"You may follow me, sir," the girl said.

Harry and his family followed the girl upstairs into an office. She knocked on the door.

"Mr. Weasley, the client is here."

"Enter," came a familiar voice.

"Here goes nothing," Harry said.

He entered, and he met the eyes of Fred Weasley and then George Weasley.

"Harry?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"Looking good Tonks."

"Thanks boys," she said. "This is our darling five year old Lily and this is our two year old Melissa."

"Are you back for good?"

"No," Harry said. "We're here on vacation. I promised the girls we would come back to see grandma and grandpa. We spent the previous two nights with Dora's parents. Now we're going to meet up with our old friends."

"Harry, we appreciate what you've sent us over the years."

"What have you two been doing?"

"Well, after traveling for three years," Dora said. "We decided to go and stay in America for a while. Harry signed up for the American Aurors, and he was training for four years as he became trained as an American War Mage and then assigned to a secret American Military Unit's Magical Platoon. He still works there, doing the hard stuff. His unit is one of the few in the American Military that can enforce domestic laws, and he does that for now. It's like the British SAS."

"Have you deployed any?"

"I can't tell you," Harry said. "But I have gone places outside of the States. That's all I can say without violating my oath of secrecy."

"We don't want you to do that, Harry. So, when are you returning to England?"

"We'll come back in time to enroll Lily at Hogwarts," Dora said. "Harry promised her that we would come back. And he would start to either teach at Hogwarts or he would return to duty where he was."

"How's the rest of you family," Harry asked.

"Ron is the Captain of the Chudley Cannons," Fred said. "He had to get that job when it came open, and he's their keeper. They've won several cups, and England just won the Quidditch Cup with him on the team captaining it. Hermione works for your old employer. Mum and Dad are living their retirement. Bill moved to France when he married Fleur. Percy is still a git, but he's married Penelope and they have two kids. Charlie married a fellow dragon keeper named Amanda, and he's now managing the preserve in Romania. As for Ginny, we'll just say that she's spending the rest of her life in Azkaban."

"What did she do?"

"We thought Dean committed suicide about a year after you left. It turns out that Ginny poisoned him so she could marry Draco Malfoy, who had enticed her to sleep with him. Her two kids are being cared for by Dean's parents. Of course, she blames you for ruining her life."

Harry snorted.

"That's what I think," Fred said. "Now, as for us, I married Katie Bell, and George married Angelina. Of course, we got your wedding gifts. We thank you for them."

"You're welcome, guys," Harry said. "I'm glad you sent us invitations. But we weren't able to come because I was working and couldn't get out of it. It was just after September 11th in America, so I was very busy at that time trying to find terrorists. What most people don't know, and those in the magical world do, is that at least one the terrorists used the imperious curse."

The twins nodded.

"How is the job?"

"It pays well, and the benefits are great. My teammates know who I am, and no one else will know. We're that secretive. I don't go out in public as myself much. This is one of those times."

"Where do you live in America?"

"I don't want to say," Harry said. "But I will give you guys a portkey so you can visit sometime. We have a house in Malibu, California that we bought for vacations."

"So, Tonks, what do you do now?"

"I'm actually a housewife," she said, with a grin. "Before I got pregnant with Lily, I worked as an American Auror. Then when I got pregnant, I decided to leave the Auror corps for good. Now, I teach at a local magical school for the magical children in North Carolina."

"So you like the job?"

"I love it," Harry said. "But I don't like leaving my family behind a lot. I'm proud that I made it to the birth of each of my kids, thanks to our ways to get home in a hurry. I hope to be back for the birth of our third child."

"Congratulations," George said. "I know you like this, don't you?"

"I don't like it too much more," Tonks said. "We're having twins, as far as the healers can tell us. But we may call it quits at these two if we have a boy who can carry on the Potter name."

"What if you don't?"

"Well, we'll try again," Tonks said, with a grin. "I don't mind having another child or two, but I don't know how much longer I want to do this. At least I'm having kids now."

"You're young enough to have one or two more after this," Fred said. "I mean, you're not even thirty, right?"

"Nice try, boys. Try thirty five. Harry's twenty eight."

"Why don't you join us for dinner tonight," Fred said. "We're having dinner at Mum's place and the family is getting together."

"Sure," Dora said. "I can't wait to see everyone. We're going to Hogwarts next to see Minerva and several of our friends. We know they're getting ready for school again."

"Do you have a little prankster," George asked.

"Of course," Tonks said. "Our little Lily takes after her grandfather James. But Melissa inherited the shifter genes from us. Both have already performed accidental magic, and Harry and I have to train them because they are more powerful than anyone else. After Harry's experiences with magical blocks, we decided it would be safer to train them from an early age to use magic. You can own a wand in America as soon as a parent allows it."

"Let's go," George said. "Katie and Angelina are meeting us there. We're having the annual Weasley reunion, without Ginny, for obvious reasons. You won't be uninvited if you show up."

Harry smiled.

"We'll have to floo there," Harry said.

"I can't apparate while pregnant," Tonks said.

"That's ok. We can floo from here," Fred said. "Come. Let's go."

When Harry arrived at the Burrow, he was surprised by the number of kids running around. Lily looked happy, but she didn't know what to do.

Molly chased one kid and stopped in her tracks when she saw strangers.

"Harry?"

"How are you, Mrs. Weasley," Harry asked.

"Harry!" she yelled, getting several people looking in.

The crowd came soon, and Harry and Tonks were introducing their kids to everyone and seeing the dozen kids running around.

"Lily, why don't you go and play with the others," Harry said.

Harry set her down and Hermione looked at Harry, smiling. Lily Minerva Potter looked just like her grandmother, with red hair and green eyes. She had the same color of hair as her namesake and grandmother, not the Weasley red.

"What have you been up to? You look good," Hermione said, hugging Harry.

"Well, after we traveled for about three years, we settled in America. I got a job with the Ministry there, and I've enjoyed it."

"What kind of job?"

"I joined the Auror Corps and was immediately trained for a secretive Magical Military Unit," Harry said. "That's all I can say."

"Of course," Hermione said, with a smile. "I've worked with you guys before. Can we talk about a mission we may have worked together on?"

"Sure," Harry said, walking into the room Hermione indicated.

"I have to ask," she said, with a privacy sphere up. "Were you with the Ghosts in Afghanistan six months ago?"

"Athena?"

Hermione nodded and smiled.

"So I was right. I thought that was you since I see your build. You lead them, right?"

Harry nodded.

"That's great, Harry. It's a good job for you. I know you like it."

"I do. But I promised Lily that we'll come back when she can come to Hogwarts. She wants to come to Hogwarts too."

"Is she smart?"

"Yes. She's going to a Magical primary school where Dora teaches," Harry said. "When we come back, I'll probably rejoin the department."

"Good," Hermione said. "They would love to have you back."

"I know. But I may also teach. Dora wants to teach when she gets back here. She teaches now as it is."

"What does she teach?"

"She teaches the physical education classes. Of course, her class includes the basics of dueling and self defense. You know she has a black belt in Karate and teaches the kids karate too."

"That's great," Hermione said, as she walked back into the room with Harry. "It's been different without you guys here."

"I know. I'm sorry we left how we did, but we just had to get away for a while. We found ourselves during our travels, and I helped Fred and George develop more gags. I also made contacts into businesses around the world to get them cheap rates on ingredients for their pranks."

"What did you do during those three years you were traveling?"

"We spent it researching things and getting to know each other. We did research on how other magical cultures dealt with magical beings and we studied with some of the different cultures for a couple of months."

"So that's why you wrote that book on other magical cultures."

"Yes. I wrote the book with Dora's help. She wrote a version for primary school, and I wrote the upper level version on magic around the world. That was our big research project."

"That was a good book you sent, Harry," Hermione said. "Minerva is going to make it required for every student to read."

"That's good," Harry said. "I knew you would enjoy it. There is so much more out there that we have yet to learn. After we get the kids through school, Dora and I plan on traveling again to do more research."

"Learning that magic is awesome," Dora said. "I love it, Hermione. But I'm afraid we won't get to travel until we are in our fifties with our kids."

"That's ok," Hermione said. "If you wait long enough, Ron and I can travel with you. He's quitting the Cannons in a few years, and, after I decide to move on, I think I would like to go and research other cultures and see what we can learn from them."

"That would be great," Harry said, as Dora nodded.

"Yes it would. We'd like to travel with some friends. It's great seeing the Pacific Islands and all of those cultures. We spent six months in a place where the women walked around with nothing but a skirt on. Harry loved it there. We were shagging like it was going out of style."

Hermione chuckled.

"I can imagine," Hermione said.

"Time for Dinner," Molly said. "Harry, Dora, you have to tell us all about your adventures."

"Did you get the books we sent? And the postcards?"

"Yes we did. That's great. But telling the story is better."

"Yes it is," Harry said. "Don't worry, though. I'm already writing a biography of my travels and my adventures to publish later in life. I can't write anything that's classified, or about my current job, but you did see the book about defeating Voldemort, right?"

"It's a top seller, Harry," Molly said. "Even after all these years. It's a required book in the History of Magic Course now."

"I knew it would be," Harry said. "Minerva said she would make it required. That's two books that I wrote that are required for Hogwarts students."

Molly shook her head, but with a smile on her face.

"You've changed a lot, Harry, but for the better. Tonks has been good for you."

"And he's been good for me," Tonks said, with a grin. "We'll grow old together and have many more adventures before we finally settle down once we reach a hundred. I think Harry wants to be the Hogwarts Headmaster, so we'll probably settle down so he can do that."

Molly and Arthur laughed.

"That's a good life," Arthur said. "Now that you're back, I feel our family is together again."

Harry nodded as he watched his oldest child playing with her new friends. If he had anything to say about it, she would know them for the rest of her life.


End file.
